In the spring of 1862, Maj. Gen. George McClellan and his Army of the Potomac initiated a campaign to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond. McClellan landed at Fort Monroe and slowly moved up the Yorktown Peninsula. As McClellan neared Richmond, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee decided to launch an offensive. Lee targeted Maj. Gen. Fitz John Porter's V Corps. The Confederates struck on June 26 at Beaver Dam Creek. The engagement was the second in the famous Seven Days' Battles.